Environment Secretary Michael Gove claimed that the government’s Clean Air Strategy “highlights how we can all take action and playing an important role in cleaning up our air,” while Exchequer Secretary Robert Jenrick tweeted that the strategy “sets out a bold path to healthier and more pleasant urban areas”.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. This strategy, regardless of how well intentioned, has targets that simply don’t go far enough and does not give road transport – Britain’s biggest air polluter – the attention in requires. On top of this, it completely misses the opportunity to get more of us walking and cycling more regularly.

Like so many of their solutions to environmental problems, the Tories’ proposal is little more than a fudge that will deal with some of the problem while taking much-needed focus away from the motor lobby.

Claims and reality

They make the claim that their proposals will cut the costs of air pollution to society by an estimated £1 billion every year by 2020, rising to £2.5 billion every year from 2030.

That sounds very impressive and ambitious, but the reality is that it is minute considering UK air pollution costs more than £20 billion per year to our health services and businesses. The EU sets limits for the level of air pollution allowed in each country.

As it currently stands, the UK surpassed our air pollution limits in March. This means that we will spend nine months of the year essentially breathing “illegal air”.

Is everything in the proposal underwhelming? Not entirely. The fact that this will be backed up in new primary legislation is also a positive development. The inclusion of particulate emissions caused by braking and tyre wear is also very much welcome.

But much of the strategy is taken up by underwhelming half-measures that will not make the serious dent in our air pollution statistics that we so desperately need. It focuses on behavioural change, trying to modify people’s day to day practices, when what we need is systemic and legislative changes from Government and serious investment in enabling alternatives to car use.

Road transport

The biggest problem with this strategy is how it utterly fails to deal with the devastating effect our road transport system has upon the air we breathe.

In parts of Britain where they are over the legal level of air pollution defined by the EU, 80 per cent of that pollution comes from the transport system. While the strategy does briefly note that transport is the major factor in our air pollution output, it misleadingly states that “transport emissions are only one part of the problem”. That’s like saing how Mo Salah is only one part of Liverpool’s goal scoring threats.

Downplaying the damage that road transport emissions cause while equating them with them emissions from other areas has led to a complete misplacement of priorities. The worst polluters deserve more than a couple of lines. They ought to be front and centre.

Now, the Government will respond by saying that they will publish their strategy for reducing exhaust emissions from road vehicles further down the line. But as of right now we have no idea as to whether this strategy will finally meet the air pollution challenge that we desperately need to tackle.

World leader?

In its release to journalists, the Department of the Environment made the ambitious statement that this Government wants to strengthen the UK’s position as a “world leader in clean technology”.

The Green Party wants this too, which is why we’ve pushed the Government to look at genuine world leaders for inspiration. Government will have to go big if it wants any chance at being a world leader.

In Germany for example, five cities are trialing free public transport schemes to tackle air pollution, and cities are able to ban diesel cars. Brussels has been holding car-free days every year for the past 17 years, and Paris does so every month. Estonia will become the world’s first free public transport nation on July 1st this year.

If we want to be seen as the number one country for tackling air pollution, we don’t just need to be mimicking these countries but surpassing them.

Caroline Russel is a Green Party member of the London Assembly and Chair of its Environment Committee.

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